ORGANIC NANOGENERATOR

Context: Scientists have developed a nanogenerator device for harvesting light energy using organic material, which has the potential to power wearable devices on the go.

Key Points

• The device can generate current and voltage from minute amounts of heat or light that fall on it.
• The experimental exploration of energy materials has led to the successful synthesis of an organic energy material called polyaniline-rubrene, and they have fabricated an Organic Pyroelectric Nanogenerator (OPyNG).
• The pyroelectric effect of the device is induced by the light-induced change in spontaneous polarization occurring in the ultra-thin oxidized surface layer of the polyaniline-rubrene thin film.
• The working principle of the device is based on the pyro-phototronic effect.
  • The pyroelectric effect is the change in polarization due to the change in temperature.
  •  Ferroelectric materials are expected to be strongly pyroelectric because ferroelectric materials have a large range of temperature-dependent spontaneous polarization
• This effect holds a unique advantage in the pyroelectric nanogenerator (PyNG), as it can optically induce the pyroelectric effect, which is useful for energy harvesting.
• The fabricated OPyNG device utilizing organic material provides new insights and opens up new avenues for harvesting energy from organic materials.
• The OPyNG operates in the UV-visible-NIR region in self-powered mode, and it offers significant advantages as it can function as a self-sustainable standalone device.